Fabric holding and stretching clamp



AIO

UNI-TED STATES vPATENT OFFICE.

AUGUSTUS N. WILSON, OF GREENVILLE, OHIO.

FABRIC HOLDING AND STRETCHING CLAIVIP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 433,756, dated August 5, 1890.

Application filed April 22, 1890. Serial No. 349,058. (No model.) I

.T0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS N. WILSON, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Greenville, in the county of Darke and State of Ohio, have invented certain new 'and useful Improvements in Clamps, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invent-ion relates to clamps 5 and it has for its object to provide a cheap and simple device for holding together pieces of fabric, as carpet, while they are being sewed, and by which, also, the fabric can be stretched.

The invention will first be described in connection with the accompanying drawings, and then poin ted out in the claims.

Figure l of the drawings is a perspective view illustrating two pieces of carpet as beingl sewed together which are held and stretched by two of my clamps. Fig. 2 is a plan view of my improved clamp. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the clamp, illustrating a modification.

Referring to the drawings, A and A are the two clamp-arms, each of which is bent laterally near its forward end, as at l, and then projects forward, as at 2, the arms being crossed and pivoted together at 3.

B represents two clamping-plates, preferably rectangular in shape, which are provided with small projections or teeth upon their inner surfaces, in order that the plates may take a rm hold upon the fabric. On the outer surface of each of these plates there is formed or secured a bifurcated lug b, in which lugs are pivoted the front ends of the clamparms A A.

To the upper side of clamp-arm A there is l pivoted a locking-bar O,having ratchet-teeth 4 upon its forward edge, which are adapted to engage with a catch 5, formed in a metal loop D, secured to the upper side of clamparm A', the free end of the locking-bar being prevented from leaving` the loop by its downwardly-bent portion 6 coming into contact with the arm A. The rear end of clamp-arm A is bifurcated, as at 7, and in this bifurcation there is journaled a small sheave 8, and on the rear end of arm A there is formed a ring 9. v

properly Referring to Fig. l for an exposition of the manner of using my clamp, it will be seen that the edges of two pieces of carpet or other fabric E are brought together and held at one end by one of the clamps, which is attached to any suitable post or support, as F, by a cord 10, one end of which is secured to the ring 9 on arm A, and the other end is passed over the sheave 8 in arm A and fastened to the support. The locking-bar C is then thrown forward to engage with the catch 5 in loop D, so as to hold the clampingplates tightly pressed upon the fabric. The fabric being held in this manner at one end, another clamp 'is placed in position some distance from the first. One end of a cord l1 is tied to the ring 9 on clamp-arm A, the other end being passed thence over the sheave 8 in arm A and se cured to a two-sheave pulley G. A cord 12 is secured at one end to a post or other suitable support F then passed over one of the sheaves in pulley G, thence back to and over a singlesheave pulley II, secured to post F, thence forward and over the other sheave in pulley G, and finally back to post F where it is detachably secured. Instead, however, of forming a ring 9 on the end of arm A,I may bifurcate the end of that arm and mount a sheave 8 in the bifurcated portion, as seen in Fig. 3. In this case the cord l0 or ll is passed over both sheaves and its ends are secured to the support F or to the pulley-block G. With the parts thus arranged, it will be apparent that when it becomes necessary to stretch the carpet or other fabric while sewing two breadths together it is only necessary to draw lightly upon the cord l2, when, by reason of the power derived from the pulleys, the necessary tension will be had, which will be maintained when the cord is secured to the post. The tension upon the clamps tends to draw their arms together, and therefore it is not necessary that the locking-bars should be in engagementwith their catches when the tension is on, the purpose of the locking-bars being to secure the clamps in position on the fabric when the tension is released or not required.

-1 It will be apparent that in sewing breadths of fabric together it is not essential that two clamps be used, as the fabric can be secured at one end directly to the support F; but I IOC prefer to use two, as being more convenient. By reason ofthe clamping-plates being pivoted to the clamp-arms they are caused to assume a parallel relation to each other when in use. I am aware, however, that this feature per se is not new, as it has heretofore been employed in the construction of clamps for 4holding moldings, and therefore I do not claim it broadly herein, but only in connection with other specified features.

I-Iaving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A clamp for holding and stretching fabrics, comprising two crossed arms pivoted together at the point of crossing, two clamping-plates AUGUSTUS N. WILSON. Vitnesses:

A. H. MEEKER,

S. E. CHENOWETH. 

